# CVE-2026-99019: scsi: ch: Do not keep references to data transfer element devices


- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 23 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-110867, BELL-CVE-2026-99019, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-99019, GHSA-3xf5-26fr-5wmr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-99019

## What is CVE-2026-99019?

CVE-2026-99019 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

scsi: ch: Do not keep references to data transfer element devices

ch_readconfig() looks up the scsi_device of every data transfer element
whose SCSI id the changer reports in READ ELEMENT STATUS, and stores it in
ch->dt[]. scsi_device_lookup() takes a reference, and nothing ever drops
it: ch_destroy() frees the array with kfree(). ch->dt[] is read nowhere
else - it only supplies the vendor, model and revision printed in the same
loop.

Once such a drive is removed, its scsi_device can never be released. It
stays on the host's device list at its address, so a new device there is
refused by anything that walks the list - target_core_pscsi reports
"scsi_device_get() failed for H:C:T:L" - and the low-level driver's module
can no longer be unloaded. Only a reboot recovers.

It shows with any changer that reports its drives' ids; with the mhvtl
virtual library (IBM 3573-TL personality), each create and remove of a
library with four drives leaves four references behind, counted by the
module's use count in lsmod. With ch not bound the count is unchanged, and
with this patch applied it is unchanged too.

Drop the reference as soon as the name has been printed, and remove the now
unused dt[] array. That also removes the array leaked when ch_probe() fails
after ch_readconfig().

The same leak was reported with an RFC patch in 2022, which was not merged.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-99019?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-99019?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-99019 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-99019 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-99019 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-99019 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-99019 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-99019/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-99019/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-99019
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99019
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-99019

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-99019/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.